Camping
If you search the ground near trees, you will occasionally find a branch that you can pick up and use as firewood. There are 18 unique branch meshes, and the appearance of the branch is based on the region and type of tree dropping the branch.
A more reliable way to harvest firewood is by chopping trees, logs and tree stumps with an axe. Simply equip an axe, walk up to a tree, and swing at it (chop or slash attack) until you harvest firewood.
- Wood axes are more effective than war axes
- Two handed axes are more effective than one handed axes
- Full swings harvest firewood much faster than quick ones
Harvest too much firewood, and the tree will topple over. Toppled trees respawn as soon as you get far enough away for distant land statics to kick in (this is a limitation of the mechanic as distant land statics can not be modified in game). Tree felling can be disabled in the MCM.
Chopping down tree stumps is a great way to find hidden loot! When felling a stump with objects hidden inside, they will be dropped to the ground where the stump was.
The Ashfall Nexus downloads page includes an optional pluginless tree replacer which allows for the full tree felling animation. These meshes are not required for the mechanic, but without them the felling animation will be more generic. The meshes are based on those from the Morrowind Optimization Patch, and cover the vanilla game and expansions.
Tree replacer mods that override these will have the generic animation applied, unless they have been specifically configured to be compatible. See the Compatibility page to find a list of tree replacer mods which support tree felling animations.
Plant fibre is harvested from vegetation, including both static plants and organic containers. This can be done with any bladed weapon using "chop" or "slash" attack directions, but short blades are the most effective.
You can gather large amounts of flint by harvesting rocks with a pick axe.
To collect fur, hides and meat for your crafting and cooking, you can skin felled creatures by hacking at the corpse with a short blade. This works in a similar manner to harvesting vegetation or firewood.
- Works on any creature that drops meat, hides or fur
- Amount harvested is determined by the creature's size and player's survival skill
- When fully harvested, the corpse will disappear and any remaining contents in its inventory transfered to you
If you don't have a mod such as Morrowind Crafting, Tamrial Rebuilt, or OAAB Integrations, that adds meat to creature inventories, Ashfall will add its own version of meat to the following creatures:
- Alit
- Guar
- Kagouti
- Slaughterfish
- Cliff Racer
Campfires are the heart and soul of Ashfall. To build a campfire, chop at a tree with an axe to harvest firewood, then place the wood on the ground in the wilderness (anywhere that it is not illegal to rest) and activate. Use an additional 3 firewood to build suppports, which are used to attach cooking utensils, or a wooden grill, used to cook meat and vegetables. Wooden grills are not very effective and food will burn easily however, so make sure to purchase an iron or steel grill from a merchant when you have the chance.
A Campfire provides light and heat based on how much fuel is added to it. Fuel burns over time, faster in rain (unless the campfire is under shelter), and eventually goes out.
See Cooking for how to cook food at your campfire.
The options available in the menu when you activate your campfire depend on what part of the campfire you are looking at. For example, look at the base of the campfire to enable the sitting option, look at the cooking to add ingredients etc.
Most actions you can take at a campfire have a menu-less option. This usually involves dragging an item from your inventory onto a part of the campfire, or by pressing Shift+Activate.
Light a fire by placing a flint and steel or torch/lamp onto an unlit campfire. Using a light will use up some of its duration.
Alternatively you can light a fire by casting a fire spell, scroll or enchantment.
You can extinguish your campfire by dropping a water container onto the lit fire. This will use up some of the water in the container.
Attach a utensil by placing it from your inventory. For grills/bellows etc, place it on the campfire itself. For kettles and cooking pots, drop it directly onto the supports.
Shift+Activate a utensil to remove it from the campfire.
To add ingredients to a stew, place the ingredients directly into the pot. Likewise with brewing tea.
You can pass the time by sitting on a cushion or laying down on a bedroll. Time will speed up until you press any key to cancel. These count as "waiting" and "resting", respectively, and you will recover health/magicka/fatigue at the same rate.
Tents provide shelter from the rain and protection from cold and hot weather.
Tent covers can be attached to tents to provide additional warmth (and style).
Trinkets provide unique effects when attached to a tent. See below for a list of trinkets
Bedrolls allow you to fully recover from tiredness in the wilderness. They also provide mild protection from the elements.
Covered Bedrolls are heavier and more expensive than regular bedrolls, but they provide additional protection from the rain without the need for a tent.
While you can harvest firewood with any axe, the wood axe is far more efficient and will degrade slower when chopping wood.
Backpacks provide additional carrying capacity. They also display your firewood, wood axe and tent on your back.
Grills can be attached to campfires to allow you to cook meat, vegetables and mushrooms.
You can use a metal bucket as a cooking pot to boil water. Adding an iron ladle allows you to cook stew. Both are vanilla items, but have also been added to the stock of merchants who sell camping gear.
When attached to a campfire, bellows increase fuel consumption and heat production. Good for cooking food or warming up quickly without having to add a lot of firewood.
| Trinket | Description |
|---|---|
| Lantern | Attach any lantern in place of a trinket to light up your campsite. |
| Silver Censer | The pungent aroma emanating from the Censer cleanses the air and provides protection from The Blight. |
| Bouquet | This simple bouquet of stoneflowers fills the air will an invigorating aroma which improves fatigue regeneration. |
| Wind Chimes | The soothing sound of wind chimes helps with rest and recovery, providing a mild health regeneration effect. |
| Dream Catcher | The Dream Catcher collects ambient magic from the air and provides a mild magicka regeneration effect. |
| Bone Ward | The Bone Ward strikes fear into the hearts of nearby creatures, making them more likely to flee from combat. |
| Skull Ward | The Skull Ward serves as a brutal warning, making nearby hostile NPCs more likely to flee from battle. |
